Google recently announced the Voluntary Exit Program (VEP) for employees in certain business units. According to a report in Business Insider, which claims to have viewed the memo, it has been sent by Google’s chief business officer, Philipp Schindler. In the email memo sent to employees, Schindler, said that employees on certain teams within the global business organization (GBO) could voluntarily leave the company with a severance package. The memo also makes it clear that certain roles are excluded from Google’s Voluntary Exit Program. Here are the four key takeaways from the memo sent by Schindler:

Starting the year on high note

Schindler starts the memo with a thanks note, saying, “We’re starting the year in a strong position thanks to everything you accomplished in 2025.” He adds, “But the game is dynamic, the pace is electric, and the stakes are high.”

Everyone needs to embrace AI

Schindler’s memo clearly tells employees that everyone in GBO needs to adopt AI. Schindler tells employees in the memo that everyone in GBO needs to be “all in” on the mission and “embracing AI to have even greater impact”.

Memo says that the Voluntary Exit Program is aimed at employees who weren’t “enjoying the pace we need to operate in” or who are “ready to move on from Google.” Schindler adds Google would offer a Voluntary Exit Program (VEP) for certain roles within GBO in the US. This includes employees working on solutions teams, sales, corporate development, and others.

Schindler said America’s large customer sales teams and other customer-facing roles would not be eligible for the programs. “While all GBO functions are essential to our long-term strategy, we’ve decided not to offer VEP for these particular roles to limit as much disruption to our customers as possible,” he wrote.

This is not the first time that Google is giving Buyout offers to employees. Google has made similar offers to employees in other teams over the past year. In June 2025, Google offered buyouts to some US-based employees as it cracked down on its return-to-office mandate. In October 2025, it offered buyouts to YouTube employees as part of a reorganization.